Letter: Italian Festival incident should not tarnish event

My company has been a vendor at the Italian Festival since 1978. I believe our exposure at the festival has been a large part of the success of my business.

The unfortunate incident that occurred at this year’s event should not taint the success and good times provided by the festival through the years. The police commissioner and festival committee made the correct decision to close the festival early Saturday to avoid any further problems.

Let’s not forget that other incidents at other public events have happened and is not unique to the Italian Festival. Do we remember the brawl on the Crystal Beach boat in the mid-1950s? The riot at the Allentown Art Festival in the early 1970s? Or more recently the altercations at the Riverside Towpath Days?

Whenever there are large gatherings of people there is the potential for problems. How those problems are handled is the critical issue. How it was handled by the commissioner and the committee was commendable. Better to close early and err on the side of caution than risk further problems.

Let’s not paint the Italian festival as a cauldron ready to boil over, rather than an unfortunate incident by some unruly teens that need better parenting.